• When it comes to weird fast-food promotions, no one beats the Japanese. This time around, Burger King has teamed up with Microsoft, offering a gimmicky version of the Whopper to promote the new Windows 7 operating system. The burger has seven patties and looks like it presents enough logistical problems (How does it stay together? Will we need one of these?) that diners may think it’s promoting Microsoft Vista. [CNET]

• Canadian gardeners are broadening their gardening horizons, branching out into the realm of fungi. A seller of mushroom-growing equipment from B.C. tells the Globe that his sales to hobbyists have doubled over the past year. Some are having an easier time of it than others: one Winnipegger likens the mushroom-growing process to the set-it-and-forget-it mentality of investing in mutual funds, while another ended up with nothing but a mouldy bag of hay. [Globe and Mail]

• The National Post gets to the bottom of the grass-fed versus grain-fed steak debate. While some argue that grass-fed beef has a beefier taste, grain-fed beef usually ends up with more marbling, which generally means more flavour. The Post’s conclusion? Grain-fed beef is superior in all three judging criteria: flavour, texture and tenderness. [National Post]

• Forget Swiss spring water. Canada is sitting on a vast reserve of fresh water in the form of glaciers. Eighty Degrees North Iceberg water is just one of the Toronto Star’s 10 favourite items that appeared at Grocery Innovations Canada 2009. Also on the list is beef bacon, which contains 35 per cent less fat than pork bacon, and soy peanut butter, which apparently tastes remarkably like the real thing. [Toronto Star]

• Maple Leaf Foods just announced that it is in the black in the third quarter of 2009—its first profit since listeria was discovered in many of its products last year. The company reported a net income of $22.5 million over the past quarter, compared with a listeria-induced loss of $12.9 million last year. [Reuters]